Girl Meets Upstate
Girl Meets Upstate is the sixth episode in season 3 of Girl Meets World and the 57th episode overall. It aired on July 8, 2016 to 1.7 million viewers. Overview Riley and Maya take a trip upstate to visit Shawn and get some advice, and an angry paint fight reveals Maya's true artistic talent. Plot (NOTE: This episode is a continuation of Girl Meets Triangle.) Each carrying a large laundry bag full of clothes, Riley and a confused Maya begin their adventure to bring Maya back to her old self; they board an upstate-bound train to visit Shawn at his remote lakeside cabin. Once there, Riley blames Shawn for being too much of a good influence on Maya, and Shawn opens up about his early friendship with Cory, particularly that he couldn't understand why Cory wanted to be like him since Shawn longed to be like Cory; Shawn notes that Maya's change in behavior through Riley mirrors his own change through Cory, and Maya wants Shawn to help turn her back into who she used to be. Certain he had nothing to do with her change, Shawn decides they should pinpoint the moment when Maya stopped being herself, so the girls open up the laundry bags and dump out the contents-- all of the clothes Shawn bought for Maya. Back at the Matthews' house, Topanga and Katy both pressure Lucas to tell them his decision between Riley and Maya, which he is still reluctant to reveal; declaring he's "had it", Lucas retreats to the Bay Window to wait for the girls to return so he can reveal his choice to them first. Cory reveals to Topanga and Katy that the girls went to Shawn's cabin. Topanga thinks they ran away to Shawn's, but Cory believes they went to find something. After Cory leaves to go to Shawn's, Topanga remarks on how calm Katy seems; Katy replies that she's confident that Shawn will say the right thing to Maya. When Topanga observes how Shawn's eyes light up when he's around her and Maya, and how Katy's eyes light up around Shawn, Katy finally admits that she's in love with Shawn. At the cabin, Maya notices the pictures hanging on Shawn's wall (which he says are the most special to him), including one of him and Katy on their first date, and especially the one of Shawn and Katy giving Maya her birthday cake. Both Shawn and Maya admit their mutual feelings, saying they are "very extremely fond" of one another. Riley decides a good way to try and get the old Maya back is to have her trade in her newer clothes for ones similar to what she used to wear, but when it doesn't help, Shawn admits he feels the same way about himself, so Riley suggests that he pinpoint the moment he stopped being Shawn, which is when Cory arrives at the cabin. While Shawn accuses Cory of turning him into Cory, Riley begins to accuse herself of changing Maya. Maya now believes that because she longed for everything Riley had and grew to love Riley and her family so much that she gradually became more and more like her; Riley speculates that the change could be an underlying reason why Maya likes Lucas, but Maya is not sure. Shawn admits that his friendship with Cory changed him for the better, but that he let himself change too much; he also reveals that somewhere along the line he stopped yearning for what Cory and Topanga had, and began longing for what he himself was meant to have. Cory reminds Shawn of the best part of himself: his "reckless spontaneity". For as long as Cory could remember, Shawn always lived in the moment never caring what others thought. He then points out that Shawn's own personality crisis is nothing new, recalling some of the crazy things Shawn did when they were young, including blowing up a mailbox, turning Mr. Feeny's home into a bed and breakfast, and even running off to find himself 76 times. According to Cory, all Shawn needs to do is remember his "reckless spontaneity" and he'll remember who he is. Back to his old self again, Shawn and Cory do their secret handshake for the girls for the first time. Maya asks Shawn if his feelings for her have changed, which they have, but Shawn advises Maya to find herself again so they can talk about it. Anxious to hear what Shawn now has to say, Maya begs Riley to help her to find herself, and Riley quickly comes up with another idea. Though late at night, Riley takes Maya to the high school art room where Riley sets up an empty canvas and encourages Maya to start painting whatever she feels. Expounding on her present enotion, anger, Maya begins painting while talking about how they first met, recalling how jealous she was of Riley and what she had with her family; Riley, echoing Shawn's sentiments about Cory, and citing their collective adventures (including homework rebellion and sneaking off to a college party), admits that she wanted what Maya had-- her intrepid and rebellious spirit. Saying that Maya was the best thing to happen to her, Maya swipes a loaded paintbrush across Riley's face saying "I did my job". Delighted that Maya is finally back to her old self, Riley grabs a bucket of purple paint and joyfully throws it at Maya covering her from head to foot. In turn, Maya grabs a bucket of blue paint, but instead of throwing it at Riley splashes her canvas, then grabs another bucket of blue paint and pours it over Riley's head. Their paint fight continues until Mr. Jackson walks in on them; noticing Maya's painting, Jackson finally begins to see Maya's potential and looks forward to seeing more of her work. He also compliments Riley on painting her best purple cat (Maya covered in purple paint) and then asks her to try painting something else. At the Matthews' house, Zay and Farkle arrive at the Bay Window where Lucas has been sitting for five hours. When Lucas asks Farkle how he can love both Riley and Maya, Farkle replies he has loved both of them since first grade, and by not choosing between them he gets to keep them both, the best decision he feels he's ever made. When Riley and Maya, still covered in paint, come in through the window, Lucas is about to announce his choice, but Maya stops him saying it doesn't matter, because he would have gotten Riley either way; Maya explains that if Lucas had picked her he would have gotten most of Riley's personality traits that had rubbed off on her. Maya now realizes that she needs to decide whatever way she likes Lucas and not the way Riley does. Shawn and Cory straggle through the front door of the Matthews' apartment shortly after Riley and Maya return. Shawn tells Katy about what he was just reminded of: that you can't help being influenced by people and events in your life, that sometimes you forget who you are in the process, and you don't always notice what you need in your life to be what you've always wanted to be; Shawn finally admits that he loves Maya, and also that he is in love with Katy. In front of everyone (including Farkle, Lucas and Zay) Shawn gets down on one knee and, pulling an engagement ring out of his pocket, proposes to Katy; after a long pause, she accepts. Cast Main cast *Rowan Blanchard as Riley Matthews *Ben Savage as Cory Matthews *Sabrina Carpenter as Maya Hart *Peyton Meyer as Lucas Friar *Corey Fogelmanis as Farkle Minkus *Danielle Fishel as Topanga Matthews Recurring cast *Rider Strong as Shawn Hunter *Cheryl Texiera as Katy Hart *Amir Mitchell-Townes as Zay Babineaux Guest cast *Aaron Lazar as Mr. Jackson *Benjamin Wadsworth as Jordan (uncredited) Absent cast *August Maturo as Auggie Matthews International Premieres * August 30, 2016 (Australia) * December 8, 2016 (Latin America, Brazil) Quotes Trivia *This episode is the second in which Riley and Maya get into a paint fight; the first being in season 1's Girl Meets Maya's Mother. *For the second episode in a row, Auggie does not appear. *This is the first appearance of Shawn Hunter in season 3. *When Cory arrives at Shawn's cabin, Shawn accuses Cory of destroying him, and wrestles with Cory on the floor; this gesture pays homage to Big Van Vader, a pro wrestler who guest starred in three episodes of Boy Meets World during seasons 1 and 2, and also to Mick "Mankind" Foley, who appeared in one episode of season 7. *In the shot immediately after Shawn tosses Cory over the couch and Cory stumbles towards the butter cookies, Rider Strong can be seen stifling a laugh. **Rowan Blanchard can also be seen corpsing in the background when Cory declares that Shawn is "Captain Feeny." *Shawn states he was 32 when he met Maya during the events of Girl Meets Home for the Holidays; however, if one attempts to put together a crude timeline with known inconsistencies in mind, Shawn should have been 34 when he met Maya (as he is the same age as Cory and Topanga, having been born in the same year). It can therefore be regarded as a writer's error or another timeline inconsistency. *A clip from the Boy Meets World episode "The Uninvited" is shown. **Cory also mentions the events of the BMW episodes "The Fugitive", "He Said, She Said" and "B & B's B n' B". *Cory's mention of "Captain Feeny" is a callback to the BMW episode "I Was A Teenage Spy". *Cory and Shawn do their secret handshake on GMW for the first (and only) time. *Angela Moore and George Feeny are mentioned. *First episode to feature both Shawn and Zay Babineaux. *Second appearance of Mr. Jackson. *Many prior episodes are referenced, including Girl Meets World, Girl Meets Master Plan, Girl Meets Demolition, Girl Meets Pluto and Girl Meets Hurricane. *Riley handing Maya a pile of clothes and Maya announcing that she'd like to sell her clothes is a call back to Girl Meets Demolition. *This episode also marks the first time Shawn's home is featured on Girl Meets World. *Shawn has befriended a squirrel he named "Stevie." *Lucas makes his decision, but who he chooses—Riley or Maya—is left unknown. *Shawn and Katy become engaged. *According to Laurie Heaps, the paint used in the paint fight scene between Maya and Riley, accidentally stained Sabrina Carpenter's hair purple, but due to her expertise with dye, she managed to restore the actress' normal honey blonde hue. Most viewers saw Maya's purple hair as a shoutout to Mal from the Disney Channel Movie series "Descendants", as Mal had a similar identity crisis to Maya. *Maya gives up Lucas, telling him his decision doesn't matter, because regardless of who he chooses, he will "choose Riley" due to Maya's identity crisis. * A deleted scene had Riley meeting Jordan in the same manner as she originally met Lucas. Actress Madison Kerbeck also appeared in that sequence as "Alexis." However, Madison makes her '''GMW '''debut as another character, "Kerri Abelson ," in Girl Meets Goodbye. * Pictures hanging in Shawn's home are: ** Shawn and Katy's First Date ** Shawn, Maya, and Katy on Maya's Birthday ** Cory and Topanga kissing from Girl Meets The Truth. ** The group picture from Girl Meets Home for the Holidays ** The bus picture, which is the same picture from Shawn's trailer home from Boy Meets World. Gallery Transcript References Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Season 3 episodes Category:Aired episodes